Daily News Digest

In this morning’s edition of the CyclingTips Daily News Digest: Vincenzo Nibali wins Il Lombardia with stunning downhill attack; Tom Boonen wins Sparkassen Münsterland Giro; Jan Bakelants takes solo victory in the Giro del Piemonte; Alexis Gougeard wins the Tour de l’Eurometropole; Neil van der Ploeg claims stage 2 ITT of the Tour of China I; Kittel leaves Giant-Alpecin one year before end of contract; Samples of top five finishers in the Tour de France to be retained for ten years for possible retesting; Shane Stokes’ radio documentary on Sam Bennett; Lizzie Armitstead’s rainbow jersey revealed; Two cyclists involved in hit-and-run accidents in Melbourne over the long weekend; Gravel bike vs road bike – what’s the difference?

Vincenzo Nibali wins Il Lombardia with stunning downhill attack

by Shane Stokes

Continuing a superb run of form in the past three weeks, Vincenzo Nibali has soloed to victory at Il Lombardia, the final Monument of the 2015 season.

The Italian champion attacked on the descent before the final climb and then fended off a chase by Dani Moreno (Katusha) to race into the finish 21 seconds clear. France’s Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) was a further 11 seconds back in third place, with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) beating Nibali’s teammate Diego Rosa and Mikel Nieve (Sky) for fourth.

Nibali’s Astana team was very strong and chased down late breakaway riders Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx – Quick-Step) on the climb of the Civiglio. Kwiatkowski was last to resist and was hauled back with 19.5 kilometres left. A succession of attacks were fired off from the group of main favourites, including surges by Nibali. He was unable to break the elastic on the way up and so he changed tactics and slipped clear on the descent inside the final 15 kilometres.

Showing dazzling skill, he used every bit of road to carry as much speed as possible into the tight hairpin bends, and sat down on his top tube on the straights. This combination of courage, handling ability and aerodynamics paid off, with the Italian carrying a solid lead onto the final climb of the San Fermo Della Battaglia.

Tom Boonen wins Sparkassen Münsterland Giro

Former world champion Tom Boonen (Etixx-Quick-Step) will go into this week’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour as a marked man (if he didn’t already) after winning the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro one-day race in Germany over the weekend.

Boonen was strongest in the final sprint from a group of 13 riders that arrived in Münster together. Wanty-Groupe Gobert’s Roy Jans was second while Nikias Arndt of Giant-Alpecin finished third.

Boonen’s teammate, three-time world time trial champion Tony Martin attacked on the penultimate and last lap of the closing circuit, meaning the Etixx team didn’t have to shoulder the burden of chasing in the closing kilometres.

“It was a nice race, with a lot of corners and a few cobblestone sections,” Boonen said. “So it was a good, technical parcours. We controlled the entire race as a team, with the help of a couple other teams in the peloton.

“When I entered into a right-hand corner inside the final kilometer, I anticipated and entered from the outside, so I could maintain a high level of speed as I exited. I then launched at around 300 meters to go. I went full gas with the speed I maintained through the corner, and I won. It’s always a good feeling to win, and it is proof my condition is there.”

Jan Bakelants takes solo victory in the Giro del Piemonte

Jan Bakelants (Ag2r-La Mondiale) has notched up his first win for the season after foiling the sprinters in the Giro del Piemonte in Italy.

Bakelants slipped clear of the peloton on a gentle descent with roughly 6km to go, just after the day’s main breakaway was caught. While most teams readied themselves for the sprint, Bakelants was able to open a small gap which he maintained to the line in Ciriè.

Matteo Trentin (Etixx-Quick-Step) lead in the bunch, four seconds behind, while Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF) was third.

This year’s Giro del Piemonte was the 99th edition of the race and came after a two-year absence from the calendar.

Alexis Gougeard wins the Tour de l’Eurometropole

Twenty-two-year-old Frenchman Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-La Mondiale) has led from start to finish at the Tour de l’Eurometropole, winning the five-stage race after claiming victory in the prologue individual time trial last Wednesday.

Neil van der Ploeg claims stage 2 ITT of the Tour of China I

Australia’s Neil van der Ploeg (Avanti) has won the stage 2 individual time trial at the Tour of China I, propelling himself into the overall lead in the process.

Van der Ploeg completed the super-short 3.1km ITT in a time of 3:40 (50.7km/h average), two seconds clear of Boris Shpilevsky (RTS-Santic) with the Netherlands’ Roy Pieters in third, another second behind.

Van der Ploeg finished in the main field in the stage 1 bunch sprint; a sprint that was won by Latvia’s Armands Becis (Rietumu – Delfin) ahead of Johim Ariesen (Netherlands) and Andriy Kulyk (Kolss). The two results combined see Van der Ploeg take the overall lead in the UCI 2.1 race with four stages to go.

Since 2012, the Tour of China has been split into two parts: the Tour of China I and the Tour of China II. Both races feature six stages and there is a day between them.

Kittel leaves Giant-Alpecin one year before end of contract: ‘I want to make a fresh start’

by Shane Stokes

Following on from rumours that Marcel Kittel would leave Giant-Alpecin and move to Ettix – Quick-Step, the sprinter and his current team have confirmed that he will indeed exit the squad.

“After my last setback, where I had to skip still more races, it became clear to me that I want to make a fresh start after a physically and mentally difficult year,” he said, explaining the decision.

“When I shared this wish with the team, I was aware that it’s uncommon to release a rider from his contract before the end of the term. Therefore, I very much appreciate that Team Giant-Alpecin placed my personal wishes above the concern of losing a rider so late in the season and that it was receptive to my request to try and find a new team, which is something quite rare in the hard world of elite sports.

“In addition to my personal experiences I have also realized that Team Giant Alpecin has changed and wants to go in a new direction,” he continued. “The focus on the GC brings of course a new direction to how the team is composed. For me as a pure sprinter there comes the question, of whether my ambitions will be given enough room.”

Thus far he has not indicated where he will go, meaning the Etixx – Quick-Step rumour is unconfirmed at this point in time.

Samples of top five finishers in the Tour de France to be retained for ten years for possible retesting, 656 controls carried out during race

by Shane Stokes

The first five riders in the general classification at the Tour de France will have their doping control samples retained for ten years in order to facilitate possible retesting.

The Cycling Anti Doping Foundation (CADF) and the UCI announced the news on Friday, meaning that the samples of Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde, Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador could be reanalysed for a decade.

“A total of 656 controls were carried out during the 2015 Tour de France. In addition, we strengthened our strategy of targeted controls thanks to the use of information provided by numerous sources and to the support of an intelligence coordinator,” said CADF director Dr Francesca Rossi.

Those 656 controls were broken down to 482 blood tests and 174 urine analyses. The former were scrutinised in relation to the biological passport and for specific anti-doping analyses. Thus far only one positive test has been declared. Katusha rider Luca Paolini tested positive for cocaine after being subjected to a random control on July 7 during the Tour.

Shane Stokes’ radio documentary on Sam Bennett

In addition to his reporting for CyclingTips, news editor Shane Stokes spent some time at this year’s Tour de France speaking with fellow Irishman Sam Bennett about the experience of riding his first Tour. The result is a 40-minute radio documentary for the Irish public broadcaster RTE.

Lizzie Armitstead’s rainbow jersey revealed

Last week we shared an Instagram post from Sportful in which the clothing manufacturer revealed how Peter Sagan’s rainbow jersey would look. Here now is a tweet from Bioracer — who make Boels-Dolmans’ clothing — showing what women’s world champion Lizzie Armitstead will be wearing for the next 12 months:

Two cyclists involved in hit-and-run accidents in Melbourne over the long weekend

It was a glorious spring long weekend down here in Melbourne, perfect for getting out for a bike ride. Sadly, the weekend was marred by two separate incidents in which cyclists were involved in hit-and-run accidents.

On Thursday evening, just as the long weekend was beginning, CharterMason-Giant rider Conor Murtagh was hit on Lygon Street in Carlton, suffering spinal injuries, with the driver involved reportedly fleeing the scene.

And then on Saturday, Stacey Matthews was hit in Toolern Vale by a car that allegedly veered on to the wrong side of the road before hitting the rider. Witnesses reportedly told police that the driver didn’t slow down after the crash. Matthews suffered arm and chest injuries.

Honestly, they use it here in Singapore all the time on slopes where speed rises over 45kph. Just baffling to see.

Arfy

I thought both Sagan and Nibali gained more advantage by their aggressive cornering than their straightline speed. Particularly in Nibali’s case, he made the chasing group look like they were on a Sunday ride. It would be interesting to see the tuck difference in a wind-tunnel.

Haven’t seen the Pantani ‘chest on the saddle’ descending position for a while, that was big back in the 90s. Tried it a few times at speed (60km/hr+), seemed faster to just get in the drops and pedal.

Superpilot

I can’t remember where, but someone did measure it. TTTuck vs superman vs chewing bars (sitting normally but hunched down to the bars). TTTuck was the fastest, the superman/Pantani wasn’t even quicker than a regular tuck if you got your arms tucked in and your body right down.
But, it is as unstable as hell. If you hit a bump at speed, the TT rams your ass, which hit the nose of the saddle, bouncing it in the air, and with less leverage to the bars (can’t fight the bump forwards), you can bounce high enough to pull the back tyre up, and OTB you go! Not to mention the motion to get in there is kind of forward over the bars to get your bum in front and under the front of the nose, a very unstable position, albeit momentarily.
I’ve tried it, it is faster (you can feel acceleration from terminal velocity in your other position), but I will never ever ever adopt it.
Sags kept away on the bunch because of the fast descent, but everyone knows for numpties, you lose the most time riding up a hill, so best to concentrate on saving time there than risk the rest of your coffee buddies behind you by showing off.
Saw a bloke TTTuck on a cycleway downhill that same day..

Black knicks apparently aren’t allowed with the WC jersey. Only trade team, or white. UCI should allow black with white text/logos. Cycling shorts must be black, at least in the groinal and crackal regions. A little colour in the side panels is OK. Did Merckx wear white? Enough said.

Wow, not sure how we missed that news. All the best to Rory at this time!

MK

The article and his intsa comments don’t specifically say it is him. Could be someone very close to him.

jules

good point, sounds like a family member

Shane Stokes

I took it as meaning a family member, but that was just from what he said.

Mark Blackwell

Well atleast we won’t have to see that painful Alpecin ad with Kittel any longer… “Aren’t you just saying that because you are sponsored by Alpecin? Oh no no no… I just really like the feeling of the caffeine shampoo”. Three weeks of that became painful

Dad

You should try watching the AFL Grand Final with a 9 year old while the AFL’s advertisers scream “Bet ! Gamble !” then “Game is over, now get really really drunk !” and have to explain to said 9 year old why it isn’t actually part of the sport …give me a cheezy Euro trash shampoo ad anyday.

De Mac

Let’s not forget to mention that despite all the controversy over footballers gambling in the past – often leading to poor financial outcomes, or allegations of match-fixing, that when the VRC Spring Carnival was launched last week, we’ve got footballers adorned withTAB branded clothing and riding on TAB-branded sideshow rides, as the promotional vehicle…… oh, the irony…..